The Shadow Realm

by James Galloway

  But that was a worry for tomorrow. That night belonged to Kimmie, only to Kimmie, and he wasn't going to ruin it by dwelling on things that he could do nothing about at the moment anyway. He held her close and mused contentedly how Jesmind was going to take this news. That she had to share him was bad enough for her. But to find out he loved Kimmie? She would probably have a fit. He'd have to break that to her very gently, and only after proving to her in lavish fashion that not only did he still love her, but he still loved her with a passion and enthusiasm that eclipsed what he felt for Kimmie. That wasn't entirely true, of course. Tarrin found that there was no love by degrees. There was no loving one person a little, and loving another alot. Love was love. Tarrin loved Jesmind, but he also loved Kimmie. He found that though his heart was divided, each one of them received all of his heart in their turn. He loved them because what Jesmind was, Kimmie was not. And what Kimmie was, Jesmind was not. They were diametrically opposing females, each representing an extreme of the spectrum of Were-cat behavior. Jesmind was blunt, coarse, direct, and exceptionally volatile. She was a pain in his butt, constantly fighting with him, challenging him, forcing him to battle her for control. She had a nasty temper, and she could hold a grudge forever. But she was also an exquisitely tender woman whose outward personality masked an incredible ability to love. When she was happy, when she was content, when she was feeling kittenish, Jesmind could be almost irresistably appealing. It was those moments of softness that Tarrin lived for, those moments where their love for one another outshined Jesmind's need to be contrary and showed the radiant woman lurking beneath the rough bark of her pretty exterior.

  Kimmie could not be any different. She was kind, she was gentle, she was compassionate. She had no temper at all, and had a methodical intelligence about her that made her seem very wise. She had an incredible patience that seemed almost unnatural to Tarrin, an ability to wait and endure that far outstripped any other Were-cat's limits. Were-cats were not known for patience. And she had such a sincere, understanding nature, a kind generosity that seemed so out of place in a Were-cat. Kimmie would give of herself freely and expect nothing in return, finding contentment in the pleasure it gave her to help others. She was just as direct as Jesmind, but she was much more tactful in the application of her opinion, guiding with gentle suggestion rather than direct, possibly explosive statements. In many ways, Kimmie was the human wife part of Tarrin had always wanted, the kind, demure lady that would nurture him and help guide him through the pitfalls of life with her exceptional intelligence and her keen understanding of him and their world.

  Two women, so different, and yet so similar. Both Were-cats, though Jesmind represented the wildest of the wild nature of the Were-cat, where Kimmie represented the human aspect of their dual being. Jesmind was hot sensuality and passion, the intensity of the moment...the Cat, where Kimmie was gentle, boundless love, the comfort of long, nurturing relationships...the Human. That didn't mean that Jesmind couldn't show boundless love, or that Kimmie wasn't as passionate as any female he'd ever known. No matter how wild a Were-cat got, the human was always there. And in Kimmie's case, the Cat lurked within her, waiting for its release. Kimmie told him that she had a very vile temper, but it just took alot to set her off. If that was true, he hoped he never saw it. As calm as she was the rest of the time, when she did finally go off, it would be an explosion of truly monumental proportions.

  Two women, and yet both had found their way into his heart. Jesmind had done it with her fiery nature, catching his attention, as his own personality had somehow gotten to her heart long before she had found his. Kimmie had found love for him when she saw the compassion in him, the gentle giving nature that his ordeal had buried inside him, the gentle boy lost within the Were-cat's body. His act of healing Mist had bound him into Kimmie's heart, and she had waited patiently, quietly, calmly, as was her nature. She waited for her chance, and when it arrived, she got everything she had ever wanted when her own acts of kindness and love towards him had bound her in his heart as well. His love for Jesmind was born out of conflict, where his love for Kimmie was born from gentle compassion. Love and war, light and dark, smooth and rough, good and evil, they were two women who were opposite sides of a coin...but both sides were still the same coin. So it was with Jesmind and Kimmie in his heart, each on one side of it, yet both sides still being only part of a unified whole. He found that he could love them both without tearing himself apart trying to choose between them. He was lucky...he didn't have to choose between them. He could have them both.

  Sometimes he thanked every god that was listening that he had been turned. All the pain he had suffered for it meant nothing when he thought of that one wonderful fact. That he loved two women, and he didn't have to choose one over the other. That he could have both.

  Not at the same time, of course. Jesmind would have a fit, and Kimmie wouldn't be very happy about it either. In their own ways, they were very similar in that regard. Both of them wanted his undivided attention. They wanted all of him, and weren't about to share him. Not even with each other. And given their personalities, he wouldn't be able to make both of them happy if he had to split time between them. Jesmind was way too high-maintenance, and Kimmie would be extremely unhappy with his lack of attention.

  In that regard, Kimmie had to be worse than Jesmind. It wasn't exactly a flaw, but Kimmie could be extremely demanding of his attention, even more than Jesmind. She was almost like a human in that regard. But then again, she had warned him of that when he first took her for mate.

  Snuggling with Kimmie could only last so long, though, for the sun had to come up eventually, and it would mark the beginning of what Tarrin expected would be an eventful day. There was alot on the queue, and there wasn't much time to get it all done. But until the day did begin, it was still the night, and that night belonged to Kimmie. And he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

  He leaned over his smaller mate and kissed her gently on the lips. Her eyes opened immediately, and those beautiful blue eyes stared up at him with undisguised happiness. "Still feeling frisky, love?" she asked with an impish grin. "Woop, nevermind. I just caught your scent," she added with a hungry look, her own scent showing how his interest affected her. "Come down here," she said with a throaty purr. He leaned down and kissed her, and quickly forgot what he'd been worrying about.

  What they needed was cunning, sneakiness, and complete audacity. They needed someone that could think up ways to make the Council run around like beheaded chickens, scrambling to block one carefully devised plan after another that would come flying at them with such speed that they barely had time to catch their breath. They needed someone with no morals, someone that would take devilish delight in confounding the opposition, someone that they couldn't out-think in those fast-paced games of nerve.

  They needed Keritanima.

  And get her, the Council did. All of her. After a furious night of planning with Miranda, the devious pair visited Tarrin before dawn that morning still wearing their bedgowns and, first off, alleviated Tarrin's long anxious waiting with the most important news of all.

  "There is something there," she told him with a broad, utterly relieved smile. "There's some kind of trace in Allia's mind of a spell. I think it's a Mind weave, but it was too degraded for me to make anything out."

  That made Tarrin's heart absolutely leap for joy. A great deal of the crushing pain he'd felt over his fight with Allia disappeared immediately, and Kimmie put her paw on his shoulder as he blew out his breath, then laughed in relieved delight. "That's the best news I've ever heard, Kerri," he told her with a happy look. "Mind weaves linger even after they dissipate, so she's probably still under the influence of it. Why didn't you come tell me sooner? I've been going crazy!"

  "You know how long it took me to get at her?" she retorted. "I had to wait for her to go to sleep! And she was too wound up to sleep, so I had to talk her down to where she could! And then I had to get rid of Allyn!"

  "He was t
here the whole time?"

  "He wouldn't leave her side," Keritanima snorted. "I will say this. I may hate him for what his people did to Allia, but I really think his feelings for her are genuine, brother. No way what I saw was faked. Allyn loves her."

  "That's going to cause a problem," Tarrin growled. "When I told Allia about the torture, Allyn acted like it was as right as rain."

  "He's young, Tarrin. We can train him," she said with a toothy grin. "If Allia loves him, he goes with us. It's that simple. We'll make him see the light, even if I have to hang him naked off the mast and flog him."

  "I knew there was a gentle quality about you that I loved, Kerri," Tarrin said with a light smile.

  "I know. I'm just the sweetest little girl you'll ever meet, aren't I?" she asked with bright eyes.

  After they revelled in the fact that they knew that their sister wasn't acting of her own right mind, Keritanima and Tarrin gathered with Miranda and Kimmie, and they got down to business. Sitting on Tarrin's bed, Tarrin and Kimmie not bothering to dress--it was only Kerri and Miranda--and with Binter and Sisska standing in silent protection over them, Keritanima outlined her plan to Tarrin. It was a devillishly clever plan that would send Azakar and Camara Tal, Dar and Phandebrass, Miranda and Kimmie, Dolanna and Keritanima, and Sapphire and Tarrin out on five independent missions, each with a totally separate goal. She would set it up that morning with a talk with Allia, where she would give only slight hints at what each team would be searching for. That would be enough for the Council to puzzle out what each team's objective was, and give them a chance to intervene.

  They were very widely scattered objectives. Camara Tal and Azakar would try to talk servants at the Grand's palace to bring them a personal journal or private book of the Grand, even resorting to blackmail, bribing, sexual favors, or even physical intimidation. Whatever it took to get a servant to do what they wanted. Tarrin and Sapphire were going to take a worthless trinket that Phandebrass would enchant with a useless Wizard spell to throw off the Council and pretend that it could lead them to the Firestaff, then wander around the woods and hills surrounding the town like he knew where he was going. Dar and Phandebrass were going to take the books back to the library and go crazy looking for one specific book, and be wild and adamant about finding it. It was a book that they knew would be in the Grand's library, mainly because it was in Arlan's, and act like the secrets of the universe were in that book. Keritanima and Dolanna were going to talk to some of the youngest Sha'Kar in their social circles, friends of Iselde and Auli, and try to find out if there were any rumors of old relics being hidden on the island, as well as any other interesting tidbits. Kimmie and Miranda were going to do what they did last night, compile the information they'd received so far and see if they couldn't find a pattern or some bit of unnoticed information. Zarina would spend her day with Kimmie and Miranda, since they would be staying in the house all day, and they could look after the girl. She could even help, since she could read Sha'Kar.

  Keritanima intended to set the plans in motion first, give the Council a little while to panic, then whisper her secrets to Allia and let it get back to the Council just in time to counter the plots before they reached their culmination. The plans centered on the Firestaff, not their primary goal, which was to dig up the dirt on the Council and blackmail them into cooperation. That protected their interests while forcing the Council on the defensive, where they could only react and couldn't actively interfere with what they were really doing.

  Five separate plans with five separate objectives. It would spread out the Council and make them respond by misdirecting the servants or outright protecting them from the two humans, hiding the book--and every other copy of the same book on the island, heading off Tarrin, making the chatty Sha'Kar girls tight-lipped (which would be by far the hardest of all their required tasks), and attempt to infiltrate Kimmie and Miranda and disrupt their work. Some of the jobs may look easy, like hiding the book from Dar and Phandebrass, but those two could make it a very heavy chore by making a nuisance of themselves and interrupting the Council continuously to request the book. It also happened to put them right where they could hear what was going on. Keritanima and Dolanna expected that they'd eventually hear something of use to them before the Council managed to shut the girls up. Camara Tal and Azakar could quite effectively disrupt the smooth operations of the Grand's estate, where all the business of the Sha'Kar was done, by forcing them to pull back their servants and keep them away from the pair, thereby aggravating what could already be a very chaotic situation. But by far the most important of the tasks to worry the Council would be Tarrin. The sui'kun was very powerful, and if they thought that he may be on the trail of the Firestaff, he would take up a vast amount of their attention. They'd leave him alone if they thought he was going the wrong way, but if he did start moving towards it, Keritanima was positive that they'd have no choice but attempt to intervene. It would be obvious that they would, but they'd be forced to take steps to defend the Firestaff, as they all suspsected they were doing already. That intervention may give them a clue where to look for real, depending on where Tarrin was when it came. Keritanima didn't think they were quite so stupid as to draw attention to its location that way, but her plan depended on them being forced to show their hand before the bets were on the table. They knew that Tarrin was powerful, and if he got close enough to the Firestaff by wandering around, he would sense its presence. Above all things, the absolute last thing the Council wanted was for Tarrin to wander freely around the island. That one plan alone, Keritanima surmised, was going to cause the Council to go absolutely crazy, and may even make them do something rash to prevent him from leaving the town and going out where he could do irreparable harm.

  Tarrin was impressed. Not only did all of Keritanima's ideas succeed in causing mischief for the Council, but they also had tertiary qualities that advanced their own cause. Keritanima was indeed extremely cunning. Even in a plan of delaying tactics, Keritanima still sought to get them to their objective.

  Kimmie yawned languidly, stretching her arms over her head, even sticking her tail straight out behind her. "I guess we should get dressed," she told Tarrin. "We have alot to do today, and if we can get the Council out of bed early, maybe they'll be too sleepy or hung over to be very effective against us." She grinned. "Maybe one of us may actually succeed. You never know."

  "Maybe," Miranda grinned.

  "The idea is to harry them, not beat them, Kimmie," Keritanima reminded her. "But if one of us does happen to stumble over the location of the Firestaff today, I won't complain," she added with a toothy grin.

  "That would be nice. We wouldn't have to keep playing with the Council. We could sweep them aside and do what we came here to do," Tarrin grunted, scratching at the fur on his knee. "Sapphire!" he called to the drake, which was sleeping on her little bed on the table across the room.

  She rose her head blearily. "Yes, Tarrin?"

  "You feel up to some exercise today? You and me are going exploring."

  "Outside?"

  "Outside."

  "Yes!" she said emphatically, jumping up and unfurling her wings. "Get dressed, let's go! I need a good fly to exercise my wings."

  "We have to stop by Phandebrass' room first," he warned. "We need him to do something for us."

  "Let's go, let's go!" she said pushily, flying over the the bed and grabbing his tail with her forepaws, pulling on it. "I've been dying to go flying!"

  "Let me put some clothes on," he told her. "I'll look a little strange walking around the town naked, won't I?"

  "Why do you insist on wearing those ridiculous things?" she asked. "They seem useless, and you never seem to wear them for very long once you get inside."

  "It's a foolish humanoid custom," Tarrin shrugged, crawling out of bed. "I don't see much use for it myself, but we always have to respect the customs of our hosts."

  "True," she agreed calmly. "You should grow scales. They're much more useful than those clo
thes. Scales will help protect you from harm."

  "If I could grow scales, it'd be something," Kimmie laughed. "I think I'll wear that dress Iselde gave me today," she mused. "I like the way it feels on my skin, and it doesn't pull at my fur the way wool does. Besides, I want to look good for when the cronies the Council sends comes and tries to interfere with us," she added with a wicked grin.

  "You should wear silk, Kimmie," Keritanima told her.

  "I can't afford silk, Kerri," she replied with a smile.

  "Bother that. You're my friend. I have tons of silk dresses. You can have them if you want. We'll let you raid my closet when we get back to Wikuna."

  "Sounds good to me," she grinned.

  Tarrin dressed quickly, as Sapphire continued to impatiently urge him on. "I'll stop by Phandebrass' room and wake him up, and let him give me a trinket," Tarrin told them as he leaned down and gave Kimmie a long kiss goodbye.

  "Be careful out there, love," Kimmie told him. "The Council may decide to play dirty."

  "Out where nobody can see us, I think that's the last thing the Council wants to do with me," he replied. "They got a taste of my temper yesterday. I don't think they want to see me when I'm really mad."

  "Love, eh?" Keritanima said slyly. "That's the first term of endearment I've heard out of either of you. What's going on in here when I'm not around?"

  Kimmie and Tarrin just gave Keritanima a long, knowing look.

  Keritanima burst out into laughter, falling back on the bed and kicking her heels into the mattress. "Jesmind is going to have a cow!" she managed to wheeze between bouts of helpless laughter. "Oh, I've got to be there to see that! Please, let me know before you tell her!" she wheezed.